Self-locking leverless door operating mechanism



June 11, 1968 T. c. SODDY 3,337,407

SELF-LOCKING LEVERLESS DOOR OPERATING MECHANISM Filed March 11, 1966 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR.

THOMAS C. SODDY BY ATTO RN EYS June 11, 1968 T. C. SOD

- SELF-LOCKING LEVERLESS DOOR OPERATING MECHANISM Filed March 11, 1966 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 &

INVENTOR.

THOMAS C. SODDY ATTORNEYS June 11, 1968 T. c. SODDY 3,337,407

SELF-LOCKING LEVERLESS DOOR OPERATING MECHANISM Filed March 11, 1966 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR. THOMAS. C. SODDY ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,387,407 SELF-LOCKING LEVERLESS DOOR OPERATING MECHANISM Thomas C. Soddy, Downers Grove, "3., assignor to The Youngstown Steel Door Company, Cleveland, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Filed Mar. 11, 1966, Ser- No. 533,529

4 Claims. (Cl. 49220) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLGSURE Disclosed is a self-locking leverless door operating mechanism for a railroad car having a door opening in at least one wall thereof. The door has a pair of vertically extending rotating pipes secured thereto with crank means on either ends of each of the pipes. The support means on the car cooperate with the crank means to support the door for lateral movement into and out of the door opening. An operating means to rotate the pipes and crank means is carried by the door. The operating means includes a hollow internally threaded member mounted on the door with the longitudinal axis of the member being transverse to the plane of the door. An internally threaded shaft extends into and in threaded engagement with the memher and has a handle secured to its outer end. A sleeve is slidably supported on the hollow member with means connecting it to the shaft for movement together transverse to the door, the connection is such that it permits the shaft to rotate independently of the sleeve. A bell crank is pivotally mounted on the door adjacent the handle and rod means interconnect the bell crank with the pipes. The sleeve and bell crank linkage is such that manual rotation of the handle will impart sliding movement to the sleeve and result in pivoting movement of the bell crank. The threads of the hollow member and shaft, because of their generally parallel relationship to the door, resists rotation of the pipes from forces exerted on the inside of the door thereby to provide a self-locking characteristic of the operating mechanism.

This invention relates to an operating mechanism for railway car doors and more particularly to a leverless operating mechanism which is self-locking whereby a railway car door may be released under the control of the operator irrespective of the pressure exerted by the contents of the car against the door.

In the customary plug door, the door is supported on the side of a railway car by pipes and cranks which permit lateral movement of the door into and out the door opening. The pipes and cranks traditionally have been operated by manual levers connected to the pipes on the exterior surface of the door. When the levers are actuated in a direction toward the plane of the door, the door is moved laterally into the door opening and the gasket around the periphery of the door is compressed to seal the door opening. When the levers are released and rotated in a direction away from the plane of the door, the pipes and cranks are rotated to Withdraw the door laterally from the door opening so that the door is clear of the car side. Apparatus of the aforementioned natureis exemplified in US. Patent Nos. 3,179,986 and 2,975,490.

The use of plug doors in railway cars transporting grain or a similar lading has given rise to certain problems. Thus, grain terminals have been built and operated to handle the conventional railway car in which a sliding corrugated door is used to cover the door opening and a separate grain door is placed in the door opening to retain the contents of the car. Grain door removing machines have been designed and are on location in many grain terminals to remove the cooperage forming the separate grain door. Because of the use of these machines "ice as well as other equipment at a grain terminal, severe space limitations are imposed on car builders. For example, when a plug door employing levers to operate the door is used in a car for transporting grain, it has been found that when the car is spotted for unloading there is insufiicient space available to rotate the levers to withdraw the plug door from the door opening. The result has been that the car must be moved from the center of the grain pit to a point where additional space is available to rotate the levers and then respotted over the grain pit. Morover, once the levers are actuated, the contents of the car exert a force against the face of the door which gives rise to the possibility of a flying lever and attendant harm to the operator.

It is a primary object of this invention to provide a leverless operating mechanism for a plug door.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a selflocking mechanism for operating a plug door whereby the lateral withdrawal of the door is at all times under the control of the operator.

It is a more specific object of this invention to provide an operating mechanism for a railroad plug door in which the operating mechanism comprises a hollow internally threaded member carrier on the door with the member extending transverse to the plane of the door and the threads in the member being in a plane substantially parallel to the plane of the door. A shaft is in threaded engagement with the hollow member and a handle is secured to the shaft. Linkage means interconnects the shaft with the pipes on the door whereby rotation of the handle imparts a corresponding rotation to the pipes. The linkage means comprises bell crank means pivotally mounted on the door with the rod means interconnecting the bell crank means with said pipes. With the screw threads formed in a plane parallel to the door, the internal forces exerted by the lading in the car are normal to the threads and are resisted by the shear strength of the threads resulting in a self-locking characteristic of the operating mechanism.

Other objects and features will become more apparent upon a complete reading of the following description and perusal of the attached drawings.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation view showing the plug door in closed position in a railroad car;

FIG. 2 is a view taken along line 22 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a view taken along line 33 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a view taken along line 44 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a'view taken along line 5-5 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a view similar to FIG. 5 illustrating the position of the bottom locking member when the door is in the opened position.

Referring to FIG. 1, there is illustrated the invention as it is incorporated in a railway car plug door. The numeral 10 designates one side wall of a conventional railroad car with a door opening 11 formed in the side wall. A laterally movable plug door, generally indicated by the reference numeral 12, is adapted to be received in the door opening. The precise construction of the door may vary but, as illustrated in FIG. 3, the door includes metal sheathing 13 and peripheral sealing gaskets 14 which are adapted to cooperate with the edges 15 of the door opening to provide a seal when the door is closed.

To move the door laterally out of the door opening 11 for longitudinal movement along the side wall 10 on track 16 there are provided spaced apart parallel vertical pipes 17, 18. Each pipe is rotatably secured on the exterior of the door 12 by appropriate brackets 19, 20, 21, 22. Secured to the upper end of the pipes 17, 18 are cranks 23, 24 respectively. The cranks extend upwardly behind the door retainer 25 and are provided with rollers 26 which guide the door in its longitudinal movement and retain the top of the door in the proper position relative to the car. The pipes 17, 18 also include lower cranks 27, 28 which are journalled in roller hangers 29 slidably received upon the track 16 thereby to facilitate the sliding movement of the door longitudinally of the car.

As will readily be appreciated, rotation of the pipes 17, 18 will cause a corresponding rotation of the cranks 23, 24, 27, 28 to withdraw the door laterally from the door opening. An operating mechanism, indicated generally by reference numeral 30, is provided for controlling the rotation of the pipes and cranks. Referring to FIG. 2, the mechanism 30 includes a bracket housing 31 which is secured to the exterior face of the metal sheathing 13. This bracket housing includes a hollow cylindrical member 32 having internal threads 33 over at least a portion of its length with the threads being formed in planes substantially parallel to the plane of the door. A screw shaft 34 is threadably received in the member 32. A manually operable handle 35 is secured to the protruding end of the shaft 34 whereby the shaft may be rotated relative to the bracket housing 31 and displaced transversely of the plane of the door.

Slidably received over the cylindrical member 32 is a hollow cylindrical sleeve 37. The sleeve includes a radially outwardly extending flange 38 at one end thereof adjacent to the handle 35. A retaining washer 39 is secured by welds 40 or other appropriate means to the handle 35 with the retaining washer including a radially inwardly directed flange 41 which is adapted to be received over the flange 38 so that the flange 38 is engaged between the flange 41 and the hub 42 of the handle 35. A yoke 43 is received over the exterior of the sleeve 37. A snap ring 44 or other appropriate means prevents the yoke 43 from movement longitudinally of the sleeve in one direction. The sleeve 37 includes radially outwardly struck portions 45 at spaced points around the circumference of the sleeve with the struck portions 45 being in engagement with the yoke 43 and preventing longitudinal movement of the yoke relative to the sleeve in the other direction.

The yoke includes three angularly spaced pairs of arms or bifurcations 46, 47 and 43. Similarly, the bracket 31 has angularly spaced pairs of arms 49, 50, 51 which protrude transverse to the plane of the door. Each pair of arms on the yoke is associated with one of the pairs of arms on the bracket 31, as shown in FIG. 4. Associated with each pair of arms on the yoke is a bell crank or toggle arm, as for example, a bell crank 52 is associated with the arms 46 on the yoke. A similar bell crank 53 is associated with the arms 47 and a toggle 54 is associated with the arms 48.

The bell crank 52 is pivoted intermediate its ends by a pin 55 carried by the arms 40. One end of the bell crank 52 is connected by a pin 56 to the arms 46 on the yoke with the other end of the bell crank being pivotally connected by pin 57 to the bifurcated end 58 of a connecting rod link 59. As viewed in FIG. 2, the pin 56 is carried by the arms 46 with an elongated cam slot 60 formed in the arm of the crank 52. A similar construction is employed in connection with the bell crank 53 and its associated arms 47 and 50, with the bell crank 53 being pivotally connected by a pin 61 to the end of a connecting rod link 62.

A clevis 63 is secured to the pipes 17 and a corresponding clevis 64 is secured to the pipe 18. The clevis includes a crank arm to which an end of the connecting rod link 59 is pivotally connected. A similar arrangement is employed in connection wtih the clevis 64 on the pipe 18. It will be readily appreciated that as the connecting rod links 59 and 62 are displaced longitudinally, the cranks associated with the clevises 63 and 64 will impart a corresponding rotation to the pipes 17 and 18 whereby the door may be withdrawn laterally from the door opening.

A plurality of locking bolts are employed in connection with the above-described mechanism. The locking bolts, as illustrated in FIG. 1, comprise four side-bolts and a bottom locking bolt. Each of the side locking bolts 76 is designed to cooperate with a keeper recess 71 formed in the frame of the door opening. The locking bolts 70 are adapted to be reciprocated longitudinally and this may be accomplished by a crank arm 72 which is secured to the pipes 17, 18 and which is angularly displaced from the crank arms 65 carried by clevises 63, 64. One end of the locking bolts 70 is pivotally connected to the crank arm so that as the pipes 17, 18 are rotated, a sliding movement will be imparted to the locking bolts to extend or retract the bolts from locking or unlocking engagement with the frame of the car.

The mechanism for the bottom lock member 75 is illustrated in FIGS. 5 and 6. The bottom lock includes a locking bolt 76 to which there is pivoted at 77 a toggle link 78. The link 78 is pivotally connected by a pin 79 to the toggle link 54. A pin 80 is supported by the arms 51 on the screw bracket housing, with the pin being received in an elongated slot 81 in the toggle link 54. The slot 81 is so designed that as the pin 80 traverses the slot the locking member 76 is withdrawn from locking engagement with the sill of the car.

The operation of the above-described mechanism is as follows: Assuming the door to be in the closed position, and the car to be loaded with grain, the contents of the car may be discharged simply by spotting the car in the center of a grain unloading pit. To unload the car the operator need only grasp the handle 35 and rotate the handle. As the handle is rotated, the threaded shaft 34 will rotate relative to the housing 31 and be retracted from the position shown in FIG. 5 to the position shown in FIG. 6. The retaining washer 39 will rotate relative to the sleeve 37 but, due to the interconnection between the flanges 38 and 41, the sleeve 37 will be retracted longitudinally of the cylindrical member on the housing 31. The yoke 43 which is carried by the sleeve 37 will likewise be displaced in a direction perpendicular to the plane of the door. As the yoke is moved outwardly, a rocking movement will be imparted to the bell cranks 52, 53 which are pivoted on the bracket housing. The rocking movement of the cranks 52, 53 will impart a longitudinal movement to the connecting rod links 59, 62 which, in turn, will impart a corresponding rotation to the pipes 17 or 18. As the pipes are rotated, the locking bolts will be retracted from locking engagement with the frame of the door opening, and the cranks on the ends of the pipes 17 and 18 will be pivoting to cause a lateral withdrawal of the door from the door opening. In the event the contents of the car exert a force against the door, there will be a tendency of the contents of the car to force the door to open more rapidly than desired. However, due to the threaded interconnection between the screw shaft 34 and the internal threads in the member 32, the resultant forces of the contents of the car are directly resisted by the shear strength of the threads. The shearing forces imposed on these threads resist the tendency to spin the handle 35 beyond the control of the operator and thereby provides a self-locking feature which enables the operator to have complete control of the opening movements of the door throughout the entire door opening operation.

I claim:

1. In a railroad car having a door opening in at least one wall thereof,

a railroad car door having a pair of vertically extending rotatable pipes secured thereto,

crank means on either end of each of said pipes,

support means on the car cooperating with said crank means to support said door for lateral movement into and out of the door opening,

operating means carried by said door operable to rotate said pipes and said crank means,

said operating means including a hollow internally threaded member mounted on said door with the longitudinal axis of said member being transverse to the plane of the door,

an externally threaded shaft extending into and in threaded engagement With said member,

a handle mounted on said shaft,

sleeve means slidably supported on said hollow mema yoke secured to said sleeve means,

said yoke having a plurality of angnlarlly spaced radially projecting arms,

each of said arms on said yoke being connected to one arm on said bell crank means.

3. The combination of claim 2 wherein said one arm ber, of said bell crank means includes a cam slot formed means interconnecting said shaft with said sleeve therein,

means for movement together transverse to said door, and pin means carried by said yoke arms received in said interconnecting means permitting the shaft to 10 said cam slot.

rotate independently of said sleeve means, 4. The combination of claim 1 and further including bell crank means pivotally mounted on said door adjalocking finger means on said door adapted to cooperate cent said handle, with the frame of the door opening, and rod means interconnecting said bell crank means with linkage means interconnecting said shaft with said said pipes, and looking finger means whereby longitudinal displacelinkage means interconnecting said sleeve means with ment of said shaft imparts a sliding movement to said bell crank means, whereby manual rotation of said locking finger means. said handle imparts sliding movement to said sleeve means and resulting pivoting movement to said bell crank means while rotation of said pipes from forces exerted on the inside of the door is resisted by the References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,878,533 3/ 1959 Beauchamp 49-220 Shear e 0f the 3,216,067 11/1965 Bailey 49-220 XR Z. The combination of dam 1 whereln Sald means C011- 3 245 125 4 19 Madland 49 220 necting said bell crank means to said sleeve means comprises: KENNETH DOWNEY, Primary Examiner. 

